Human Behavior and Social Change

Dr. DESIREE B. ANONAT

* Human Behavior?
Any act of an individual person which is
considered human behavior is a reflection
of his thoughts, feelings, emotions,
sentiments whether conscious or not.

It mirrors his needs, values, motivation,

aspirations, conflicts and state of life.
* Behavior?
* Consist of all human activities.

* Human behavior occurs anywhere and

everywhere......

. At home . In school
. In the work setting . In church
. In a social clubs . In a professional organization
* Behavior?

* Therefore, it is universal and it is at

the core of leadership, followership,
communication, decision making
and the process in an organization, in
a community or in a society.
* Behavior?
* The principle and concepts that
underlie behavior are basic.

•It is their implementation and practice that

differ from individual to individual, from
group to group or from one country to
another, it is known as culture-laden
behavior.
• Ex. The Americans offer flowers to their dead; while Chinese placed
food on top of the tomb.
• Note: Reverence for dead is universal. It is how each culture
manifests it that spells the difference.
 * Human behavior is also called
Human Act....
which is different from....
.... Act of Man.
* Human Act – when man/person
performs an act with free will; he is
responsible for such act which is performed
with alternatives to choose from.
* Act of Man – is performed by one who
is forced to do so at the risk of his own life,
if he does otherwise; he does not have any
other alternatives to choose from.
 * Reasons for studying Human Behavior?

1. In order for us to have an understanding of the

actions of people.

2. There is a need to anticipate and understand

how others may act in certain situation.

3. It provides us with information needed to

critically select the appropriate human
behavior and social environment theory in the
assessment of clients’ situation and in
intervention planning.
 * Reasons for studying Human Behavior?

4. In order to explain the causes and effects of

social problems on personal and collective well-
being.

5. We can connect micro-meso-macro conditions

that affect, positively and/or negatively human
well-being.

6. It can demonstrate the capacity to engage

clients in the helping process.
Human Behavior is a difficult field of study because
of its complexity. There is a need to explore,
understand and predict phenomena by studying
observable behavior of man and whenever
feasible, reduce complexities into
understandable facts and pieces of information.

A human being is perceived not only in terms of his

constitutional make-up; his environment and
the demands of that environment also
contribute to his totality as an individual. Thus,
different bodies of knowledge are used to study
man and his environment.
Social Change?
> Fundamental alterations in patterns of culture,
structure, and social behaviors

> A process by which society becomes different

while remaining the same in some respect.

> Thus social change is a term used to describe

variations or modifications of any aspect of a
social processes, social pattern, social action or
social organization.
Concept of Social Change
Social change is a concept that is used to describe
variations or modifications in:

> social processes viz. cooperation, conflict,

accommodation, assimilation
> established social patterns; social organization;
social interaction and standard of conduct i.e. in
the structure and functions of society
> social relationships
> thinking and behaving (acting) of people
> size of social groups and populations
 * Society is an ever-changing phenomenon:
growing, decaying, renewing, and
accommodating itself to changing
conditions and undergoing vast
modification in course of time.

Nature of Social Change

1. Social change is a universal phenomenon

2. Social change is community change

 3. Speed of social change is not uniform - in
time as well as in space.

4. Nature and speed of social change is related to time.

It differs from age to age.

5. Change is law of nature.

6. Change is unpredictable: There are no definite laws

of social change according to which it would assume
definite forms. Hence it is difficult to predict.
7. Social change is complex in nature: There are
multiplicity of causes and effects of social change
that are inter-related in a web of complex
relationships. Hence, it is difficult to understand or
perceive.

8. Social change is seen in the form of :

i. Modifications ( e.g. [a.] in the joint family
system or from authoritarian to nuclear or
equalitarian family; [b.] existence of both the
traditional and new patterns in respect of food
habits)
 ii. Replacement ( e.g. a. communism
replaced by capitalism; b. change in religious
affiliation; c. human powered technology
replaced by mechanized power & technology)

9. Social change is cyclic in nature

10. Social change involves psychological processes:

a. Internationalisation of new social norms.

e.g., changes made in the Constitution or in
various legislations as regards equality and
abolition of untouchability.

b. Changing (traditional – caste-bound,

hierarchical) authoritarian outlook and
submission to authority.
c. Overcoming social ridicule and social
inhibition, especially among the lower castes
(in Hindu caste society) and the poor.

d. Lack of aspiration and motivation to achieve

and efforts to create choices

e. Belief in mass involvement, participatory

and concerted efforts.
Factors of Social Change

1. Biological factors

2. Physical or geographical factors

3. Technological factors

4. Social and cultural factors

5. Political factors
Process of Social Change
1. Perception or understanding of an aspect of
reality which already exists.

2. Invention: An invention is often defined as a

new combination or a new use of existing
knowledge. While existing elements are used in a
new invention, it is the idea of combining them in a
useful way that produces something that never
existed before. Each invention may be new in form
(shape of the new object), function (what it does)
and meaning (long-range consequences of its use).
Process of Social Change
3. Diffusion: Diffusion refers to the spread of
cultural traits from one group to another. It
operates within and between societies.

> Diffusion takes place whenever societies

come in contact with other social groups,
cultures or communities.

> Diffusion is a two-way process and both

parties that come in contact influence the
other or are affected by the other.
> It is a selective process (accepting some
while rejecting others) e.g.,
food/dress. This cannot be widely applicable
to faith or religious aspects.

> During diffusion some modification in the

borrowed element is either deliberately done
to suit to ones taste or social conditions or
this may happen unconsciously even.
Social process

> are ways of interacting which are observable

when individuals and groups meet and establish
systems of relationships or the results that arise
when changes disturb the already existing
modes of life.

> they are recurrent forms where social

interaction takes.
Social patterns
> the system of control mechanisms to dominate
entities of the organization to achieve a defined
goal - the notion of social structure as having
relatively stable patterns of relationship
emphasizing the idea that society is grouped
into structurally related groups or set of roles
with different functions, meanings or purposes.

> sees society as an arena of inequality that

generates conflict and change; how social
patterns benefit some while hurting others –
macro.
Social action

> social action theorists argue that people’s

behavior and life chances are not determined
by their social background. Instead, social
action theorists emphasizes the role of the
active individual and interactions between
people in shaping personal identity and in turn
the wider society. In order to understand
human action we need to uncover the
individual’s own motives for acting.
Social action
> observation alone is not enough to understand
human action, we need empathetic understanding

> understanding individual motives is crucial for

understanding changes to the social structure.

> different societies and different groups

emphasize the importance of general motive
for action – so society still affects individual
motives, but in a general way.
Social organization

> is a pattern of relationships between and

among individuals and social groups.

> organizations exist to serve people; people do

not exist to serve organizations.
Sources of Social Change
> Physical environment
* Changes in temperature, flood, epidemics,
droughts

> Population
* Change in size, composition, and
distribution of a population

> Clashes over resources and values

* Conflict, War
* Involves negotiation, compromise,
accommodation
Sources of Social Change
> Supporting values and norms
* Innovation – permitted or inhibited
* Diffusion – culture traits spread from one
social unit to another

Remember: All cultures tend to change over time

because of innovation, discovery, diffusion,
disorganization, and/or similar at the hands of
dominant groups.
Consequences of Social Change
1. Social effects of discovery and invention
2. Uneven or unequal rates of change :
creates cultural lag (Ogburn, 1922) whenever
one aspect of culture lags behind another
aspect of culture to which it is related.
3. Social change creates social problems : A
social problem is often defined as a condition
which many people consider undesirable and
wish to correct.
4. Disorganisation & demoralization
5. Pains and gains of change
The Change Process
Seven Phases (Pincus & Minahan, 1973)
1. Development of a need for change
2. Establishment of a change relationship
3. Clarification or diagnosis of the client
system’s problems.
4. Examination of alternative routes and
goals; establishing goals and intention of
action.
5. Transformation of intentions into actual
change efforts
6. Generalization and stabilization of change
7. Achievement of a terminal relationship